The Greatest Gift
by Ice Lynx
Summary: After a battle, Kurt returns to the feild and finds....


I found this in the middle of the mass of documents I have in my folder, I wrote it about a month ago. This is a one-chapter shot. This is also a sad- like story, ok, it's sad in my opinion, and I'd like to hear yours about it to.  
  
THIS IS TO ALL THE KURT FANS!  
  
EVEN though it's not completely about him, he is pretty much the only mutant in the thing, though pretty much all the rest are mentioned. ANYWAY. I hope you enjoy the story, and please, PLEASE review cuz I'm pathetic and need them to live, lol.  
  
-Ice Lynx  
  
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Kurt looked around at the remnants of the battle in the alley. The X Men hadn't even known Magneto was laying out a trap for them until they walked right into it, but who could have suspected a trap in the middle of New York City? Even Scott, the fearless Cyclops, leader of the X Men on the battlefield said that this kind of trap would be almost impossible to set up, and it had nearly worked.  
  
Nearly.  
  
Now, as the rest of the X Men waited for Ororo and Bobby Drake to regain consciousness in the med bay, Kurt found himself wondering what had become of the alley and busy street after the explosion that had nearly killed all of them and provided their cover for escape at the same time. So he had teleported back, and was looking around grimly.  
  
Everything was black, charred, in pieces. A burning car across the street was still burning, the police and firemen who should have been here were not, the "mutant attack" was too much for them to handle by themselves, they were probably waiting for the military or bomb to hit this exact location.  
  
In the distance the rest of the city continued about daily life, but here there was nobody except a few bodies, the claimed lives. Kurt sighed and held his cross, wondering who the dead were, when his pointed ears caught a soft sound, a sigh. Looking around Kurt walked over to the burning car, which was on its side, tilting dangerous towards a wall. There could be an explosion....  
  
Kurt bent down and looked, at first seeing nothing but black, foul smoke. Peering closer he saw the outline of... a body! It was an adult man, with a dark face and dirty clothes, appearing half conscious as Kurt pulled him out. As soon as he reached the fresh air the man started to cough violently, coughs that shook his whole well-built, limp frame. Kurt gently turned him over on his back and looked worriedly at the large wounds in the man's side.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked, bending over the man.  
  
"I'm- *cough*" the man's eyes were closed, but slowly he opened them, then jerked, gasping aloud as he saw Kurt and trying to scramble away, still coughing. "Demon!" he wheezed. Kurt put his hands up.  
  
"No," he said quickly. "No, I am not a demon, vait, you vill injure yourself further-"  
  
"What do you care?" the man spat, dark eyes glaring at Kurt, who looked back through his own yellow and smiled sadly.  
  
"I care," he said, having no other reply. The man coughed again and then grunted, hand hesitantly moving towards his middle, where the worst gapes were, but stopping as his courage failed. When the man coughed again Kurt wondered if he would die, but the man sighed and laid back.  
  
"If you are a demon, please be quick and take my soul out of this body," he said weakly. Kurt shook his head.  
  
"I am not a demon," he repeated. "I vish only to help." The man chuckled softly.  
  
"You're not a demon," he said, then seemed to think for a moment. "A mutant then? Yeah, you must be, angels are supposed to have wings right? Never seen a mutant before, alive that is, unless you count television," he said. Kurt didn't reply, looking around for someone to help or something to stop the blood flow, which was heavy. "You have a name?" the man asked. Kurt looked at him.  
  
"My name is Kurt Vagner," he said. "Vot is yours?"  
  
"Riley," the man coughed again. "Riley something or other, don't really know anymore."  
  
"Vell," Kurt said. "You vill have plenty of time to decide your last name, later." The man opened an eye and looked at Kurt.  
  
"You're being optimistic?" he asked.  
  
"I'm being truthful," Kurt replied. "One vay or another, you vill have lots of time to be at peace, and choose a last name if you vish." The man chuckled again.  
  
"Oh, you're talking about Heaven," he said. "It's that bad?" Kurt shook his head, trying to smile for the man he knew was dying.  
  
"No, but unless you sin vithout repent or asking for forgiveness, you vill end up in Heaven, there are no immortals on this Earth," he said. Riley smiled, his white teeth slightly bloody now.  
  
"Right about that," he said. The next cough left a few specks of blood on his shirt. The man paused. "Say, Mr. Wagner?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I'm not that religious, never really thought about it before. Do you think I could still glimpse those gates, at the least?"  
  
"I am sure one day you vill pass through them," Kurt said confidently. Riley nodded.  
  
"Maybe, join my mama, and wait for my baby girl," he said. "My mama was at church every Sunday, never missed it, she's up in Heaven right now, I know it," He coughed again, then continued talking while Kurt tore a strip off of the man's shirt and pressed it on the wounds, apologizing as Riley grunted in pain. Riley looked at him. "You know, come to think of it, I should start going to church with my little girl," Riley said, looking up at the blue patch of sky, showing behind the skyscrapers.  
  
"You have a child then?" Kurt asked, trying to keep Riley talking as he looked for more bandages. Riley smiled.  
  
"Yeah, Monica," he said, a glint of pride and joy flashing in his eyes. "Cutest little girl you'd ever see, gonna be just as beautiful as her mama when she gets up, she's already passed me in looks." Kurt chuckled. "You have any kids Mr. Wagner?" Riley asked. Kurt shook his head.  
  
"No, though maybe one day," he said. Riley looked at him.  
  
"It's a real treat," he said, his voice softer than before as he coughed up more blood. "To see your baby.... sleepin' in your arms... to watch her breathe, and even cry.... a miracle," he looked back at the sky. "True, greatest gift.... God ever sent, babies.... wish I could say goodbye to mine...." he trailed off and Kurt looked up, then peered into Riley's eyes, which had dulled. Kurt's heart stopped.  
  
"Riley?" he said. But the peaceful look that had spread across the man's chiseled features told him that Riley wasn't going to reply. Kurt sat back, staring at Riley's lifeless form in shock, though he had expected it and didn't know the man well, his death clicked. Kurt sadly released the make- shift bandage which was soaked in blood and closed Riley's eyes, wondering how long it would be until someone found him.  
  
Kurt started to rise, then stopped and looked in Riley's pocket, pulling out his wallet and looking through. There was money and credit cars, which he ignored, and a few pictures of a beautiful smiling woman and a little girl equally as welcome to the eyes that had just seen death. Overwhelming sadness hit Kurt as he took out the pictures and put them on Riley's chest, then pulled out his cross and started to pray for the man and his family.  
  
That night, back at the mansion, Kurt pulled a phone into an empty classroom, hearing the other inhabitants in the dining hall downstairs. The good mood of the mansion after Bobby and Ororo woke up had partially reached Kurt, but the man still skipped over dinner to make an important call.  
  
Slowly Kurt pulled out the only thing he had taken from Riley's wallet, a business card with the man's home phone on it. Slowly, dialing the number and waiting as the phone rang Kurt read over the card again, then heard the click of someone picking the phone up.  
  
"Hello?" A shaky voice said. Kurt paused, wondering what he could possibly say, when the woman's voice cracked. "Hello? Who's there?"  
  
"Hello," Kurt said. "Mrs. Dallas?"  
  
"Yes? Who is this?" the woman asked. "What do you want?"  
  
"My name is Kurt Vagner," Kurt said. "I- I knew your husband, and vanted to tell you, he is looking down at you and your child right now." 


End file.
